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Dec 26, 2013

Remembering Christmases Past

Can you believe I didn't take one single picture during Christmas this year? Well, except this one. Some scrapbooker I am, huh? I have to admit it is really hard to get into the season now with both my Mom and Dad missing. It just never quite feels like Christmas to me even though I'm surrounded by my family. Somehow the spirit of Christmas seemed to die off along with them. We don't really have any real young kids anymore (the youngest is 10), which usually infuses a house of that never ending glee of Santa Claus visiting... so it's just sort of any other day, but with family by your side.

Don't get me wrong... I am so very appreciative of having my family with me -- I couldn't face the day without them (My Dad's 70th birthday would have been Christmas day 2013), but I don't know... it's just not Christmas. It's a really fun day, but missing something (or someone!).

Anyway, this year I decided to make a special gift for my sister and brother to hopefully bring my Mom back into the celebration a bit. I made the two frames above (the one on the left is for my brother and the one on the right was for my sister) as part of my brother and sisters' gifts. The hearts were made using a mish-mosh of my mothers buttons (and I still have thousands left!) and I used my hearts framelits from Stampin' Up to use as a template for the hearts. I simply placed the framelit on the canvas in the size that fit best and then filled it in with various buttons. Once I had the template filled in, I pulled up the framelit and then hot-glued the buttons in place. I took the glass out of the frames and attached a larger button with the "Love Never Ends" scripture to the exterior of the frame.

"Love Never Ends" was my Mom's favorite thing to quote after my Dad died. She even had it written in stone on his (and now her) grave. So I hope it will be a constant reminder to both of them that although life is very different without Mom and Dad here on Earth with us, I have no doubt that they are both here -- watching, guiding and loving us from afar.

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas (or whatever other holiday you may celebrate) with your family and friends. Can you believe we are less than a week away from 2014?